, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported on Thursday.){kind=link}
Turkish authorities have banned access to seven news websites with a socialist editorial stance critical of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported on Thursday.
The Ankara 10th Criminal Court of Peace on Wednesday blocked access to the Gazete Patika, ETHA, Mücadele Birliği, Kızıl Bayrak, Özgür Gelecek, Umut Gazetesi and Yeni Demokrasi Gazetesi news websites in order to “protect national security and the public order,” according to Mezopotamya.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government is regularly accused of muzzling freedom of expression and cracking down on people who express criticism of his government on social media.
Thousands of people face investigation, are prosecuted and sentenced to prison in Turkey for expressing views disliked by the government on social media platforms.
Rights groups routinely accuse the Turkish government of trying to keep the press under control by imprisoning journalists, closing down media outlets, overseeing the purchase of media brands by pro-government conglomerates and using regulatory authorities to exert financial pressure, especially after President Erdoğan survived a coup in July 2016.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 90 percent of the national media in Turkey, which was ranked 158th among 180 countries in the RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, is owned by pro-government businessmen who toe the official line.
The deterioration in internet freedoms in Turkey was also documented in a report published by the US-based Freedom House in October, which showed that internet freedom in Turkey has steadily declined over the past decade, with the country again ranking among the “not free” countries concerning online freedoms.
Turkey has a score of 31 in a 100-point index with scores being based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free) in the Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom on the Net report.